Life Updates [3 to Wellness]

I missed posting at the end of week three – why? Simply put, and with no apologies, I was exhausted. And that exhaustion left me feeling very debilitated for a while but it led me to recognise a clear connection between stress and the flares in my condition.

While my thyroid hormone levels are pretty much under control I still struggle with my energy, sleep and moods – this is not new information I know, but it is really important to recognise that there are triggers to the way you feel that are not to do with your thyroid.

Imagine my horror when, after two weeks of being diligent about the food I was eating, sleeping at a sensible hour, meditating and enjoying amazing energy healing sessions and feeling on top of the world, I had a compete crash.

Up to Tuesday of last week I was doing really well; I was waking up full of energy and bouncing my way through the day.

Then on Wednesday I had to endure a massively stressful work situation. I have learned to manage the amount of stress I am able to put myself through and I can walk away from situations that are unhealthy for me, however this was something that came out of nowhere and more importantly something that I was not comfortable with on an ethical level.

By Thursday I was physically and mentally drained and this was definitely the trigger for a serious bout of fatigue. The result has been that I have gone through this week craving sweet foods again, not sleeping well and being constantly tired, my concentration has been shot to pieces as well.

At this stage my focus is to get through Thursday and then the weekend will be here (Friday-Saturday weekends in the Middle East) and then I can do absolutely nothing other than recharge my batteries.

As much as I am devastated that I have been put back into this horrible place I have learned a very valuable lesson – stress and autoimmunity DO NOT  mix and in my case it has a very noticeable affect on my condition. I now know with absolute certainty that the level of stress in my life has to be very low in order for me to maintain control.

I have managed the cravings through sheer force of will so I am giving myself a pat on the back for that, and this week I have done my first two workouts in the gym with my fitness guide Lina from Total PreCon. My workouts are very light and I don’t do any crazy cardio; right now we are working on waking my muscles up and getting some strength back into my body. I have to confess it is an awesome feeling for me to be back in the gym, albeit much slower than what I was used to pre-Graves.